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Oyster Hotel Review

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Pulling in families and deal-seekers with quad bunk beds and great continental breakfasts, this stylish 139-room Spanish boutique (former Hotel QT) is also known for its Wednesday night gay pool party.

Zebra-striped wallpaper in the hallways

Formerly Andre Balazs' Hotel QT, the 139-room Room Mate Grace boutique hotel picks up where the previous inhabitant left off: welcoming budget-minded tourists who want affordable rooms near Times Square and a fun party atmosphere where they can mingle at the 24-hour pool and swim-up bar. Add in an excellent European-style continental breakfast that runs daily and you'd be hard-pressed to get this much from a hotel elsewhere in Times Square, at this low a price.

Reminiscent of a "stylish European hostel" -- according to the New York Times -- the hotel offers a front desk kiosk that doubles as reception desk and gift shop, selling snacks, magazines, and liquor. The smallish rooms feature showers that are just separated from the toilet by a single screen or curtain, and occasionally curtains in lieu of full closet doors. These are not the most luxurious rooms you'll find in Manhattan, but the cute modish decor helps -- as do the big platform beds with Egyptian cotton linens, and the free HBO, Showtime, and Wi-Fi.

The current owners, the Madrid-based Room Mate hotel group, left much of the old Hotel QT's one-of-a-kind design in place when it took over -- and indeed, why would you mess with something as fantastic as a pool in the lobby with Greek amphitheater-style seating and a swim-up bar. Renovations were limited to more minor changes like pool furniture and unabashedly bold wallpaper. Hotel QT's somber gray hallways are now transformed into alternating floors of zebra stripes, Jonathan Adlergold-and-orange prints, and gold-flecked disco ball subtlety.

Of course, the hotel's name needs some explaining. Every Room Mate hotel carries the name of an imaginary person -- in this case, "Grace." Grace, the blond international concert performer shown on the hotel's website, is supposed to embody a New York friend that welcomes you to stay at her place. But Grace should really have been a glam drag queen or a fit dude who can do justice to a Speedo because the Room Mate Grace's big event every week is Drip, a packed gay pool party held every Wednesday night at the lobby pool, where a sea of drag queens and buff gay guys squeeze into a four-foot-deep pool with oversize rubber duckies -- security guards need to man the sauna and steam room. It's one of the best hotel parties in New York -- but if you're looking for a little peace and quiet, avoid this place on Wednesday, or at least request a room on the 4th floor or higher.

Service

Bare bones -- what you'd expect for the low price.

Room Mate Grace, much like a European hostel, is a self-service affair.

Laundry service and wake-up calls

No room service -- every room's hotel directory comes with a stack of delivery menus from area restaurants

Location

Located on West 45th Street, Room Mate Grace is just a half-block away from the heart of Times Square, but it's not so close that guests can't get a decent night's rest. Though once seedy, Times Square was reborn in the mid-'90s as a commercialized tourist haven, lit by 24-hour flashing billboards and theme restaurants like ESPN Zone and Bubba Gump Shrimp. Today, visitors walking the streets are more likely to be accosted by a comedy-club promoter, a rickshaw bicycle operator, or a caricature artist than a mugger. (It also helps that there's a huge police station smack in the center of Times Square.) It's crowded, but there's something unquestionably exhilarating -- and convenient -- about staying in the neon-lit heart of the city. Plus, the mayor recently decided to close off much of Broadway to traffic, making it even more pedestrian-friendly.

Rooms

While the standard "Petite" room is tiny, the toiletries are cloyingly scented, and the bathrooms are eerily reminiscent of a youth hostel, the space-maximizing rooms with bunk beds -- similar to those at the style-on-a-budget Pod Hotel -- are a great way for families or groups to save some cash.

Petite rooms (190 square feet) are small, even for a NYC hotel room. Some don't even have closets; just a few hangers on a bathroom hook.

Standard rooms (220 square feet ) come with a single queen bed, two twins (to sleep two), or two bunk beds (to sleep up to four, with individual TVs for each bed -- also called Quad Bunks)

Deluxe rooms (255 square feet) come with a single king, or a single bunk suspended above a king-size bed (to sleep up to three, also called King Bunks)

Small 24-hour gym -- just two Precor exercise bikes and a weight bench, some old weights, two exercise balls and a few mats. Its red-tinted window casts a red glow in the room, so it feels like you're working out in a placenta.